The present invention concerns a small bullet loading device removably fitted to an air gun provided with a compression piston actuated by a mail spring being tensioned by a lever or by the very gun barrel being provided in a tiltable arrangement by way of lever, said device comprising a removable, multishot small bullet loader provided with a revolver type drum and a slide mechanism designed to revolve said drum in concurrence with each main spring tensioning operation, in such a way that a small bullet is thus arranged in alignment with the gun by, said slide mechanism being actuated by an oscillating actuator cooperating with said lever or tiltable barrel.
Air guns of the prior art are known which are provided with loading devices of the type comprising a removable loader being apt to house a certain number of small bullets, and means cooperating with the gun""s main spring tensioner to position a small bullet in alignment with the gun barrel. An example of said loading devices is that adopted by the rifle sold under the trade name Gold Star Air Rifle, model PREFIX GT and GS, produced by the Firm BSA, wherein said removable loader includes a housing in whose inside a revolving, small bullet drum is mounted, said drum having holes having been provided to house the small bullets, these latter being introduced through an orifice of a cover of said housing. During the loader filling up operation it is necessary to successively revolve said drum in order to bring a next following empty hole to a position facing said orifice, said revolving motion bringing about a progressive tensioning of a torsion spring The loader is besides provided with retaining means designed to in turn hold each of said holes in alignment with the gun barrel. The gun is provided with a mechanism cooperating with a main spring tensioning lever momentarily releasing said drum retaining means, said torsion spring thereby pushing the drum thus causing it to sweep a certain angle to thus align the next following small bullet with the gun barrel. A compressed-air transfer tube delivers said small bullet from the loader to a chamber.
A drawback presented by this device of the BSA rifle lies in the fact that the loader filling up operation is a bothersome and annoying task since it requires to successively tension said torsion spring while at the same time bringing the next following empty hole of the drum to a position facing said orifice provided in the loader housing cover. In addition to this, the accuracy with which the small bullet is positioned by said loader is not enough to allow to shoot it, it being hence necessary to as has been mentioned previously deliver the small bullet to said chamber by means of said air transfer tube having been especially provided for such a purpose.
The object of the present invention is to provide a small bullet loading device being designed to be fitted to an air gun, being of a simple and reliable operation, being provided with a multishot loader that can be filled in an easy and convenient way, allowing to accurately position the small bullet in a robust drum also acting by way of chamber, and being actuated by the very mechanism being provided to tension the main spring actuating the air compressing piston of the gun.
This object is attained by means of the small bullet loading device provided to be fitted to an air gun as per the present invention, said device providing a removable, multishot loader including a housing being fitted in its inside with a revolving, small bullet carrying drum being provided with a plurality of axial holes distributed at uniform angular intervals around the turning axis of said drum, each hole being apt to house a small bullet. Said housing is provided with an actuating mechanism designed to in turn revolve said drum thereby causing it to sweep one of said angular intervals in one only direction, and with retention means designed to in turn hold each of said axial holes in alignment with the barrel of said gun. Said actuating mechanism comprises a slide being linearly guided on said housing and kinematically linked to an oscillating driving member provided with a resilient driving catch being apt to in turn engage the outlets of said holes of the drum in order to thus revolve it in one only sense. The gun is provided with an oscillating actuator cooperating with a lever provided to tension on the main spring actuating the air compressing piston, said lever advantageously being formed by the very tiltable barrel of the gun. Said oscillating actuator is preferably fitted to the gun by means of a pinjoint being coaxial with the turning axis of said tiltable barrel. When during a main spring tensioning operation the barrel is being tilted in a position proximate to the end of stroke for the tensioning of said spring a first area of the bottom face of the supporting body of said barrel interacts with a first stop of the oscillating actuator thus causing an oscillation of this later by means of which the first protuberance of the oscillating actuator pushes the slide at a first end thus bringing about a first shift causing said driving member to turn thus in its turn revolving the drum thus causing it to sweep one of said angular intervals by means of said resilient catch engaging the outlet of one of the holes of said drum. When the barrel is again brought to a shooting position said barrel body interacts with a second stop of the oscillating actuator thus causing an oscillation of this tatter in the opposite sense, by means of said oscillation a second protuberance then pushing the slide at a second opposite end of this latter thus bringing about a second shift serving to regain a sting position thus tuning the driving member in the opposite sense the resilient catch being now nevertheless deformed and retracted into a cavity of said driving member thus allowing the drum to remain in its position without turning backwards thanks to being locked, by retaining means formed by a ball being housed in a hole of the housing and spring-loaded by a spring held in said hole by a plug, said ball in turn snap-fitting into and thereby engaging longitudinal grooves that have been arranged in a cylindrical exterior surface of said drum and whose number is the same as that of said holes, said grooves having been equally distributed at said uniform angular intervals.
In order to facilitate the insertion, positioning and locking of the loader of the gun, as well as its removal, at opposite lateral ends of the housing the loader incorporates spring-loaded pushes hang been integrally formed with retractable, wedge-shaped catches being apt to snap-fit into inner recesses formed in a pocket provided in a mount of the gun. In this way, in order to install the loader it is only necessary to press it into said pocket all the way down till said wedge-shaped catches snap-fit into said recesses thereby becoming engaged in them. All that is needed in order to remove the loader is to release said catches by manually actuating on said pushes.
The position of the loader in the pocket is such that one of said holes of the drum is aligned with the barrel in the shooting position, as well as with a compressed-air passage, and in addition to this said first end of the slide is positioned in the path of said first protuberance of the oscillating actuator, and said second end of the slide is positioned in the path of said second protuberance of the oscillating actuator.